Putting an end to violence against women and girls

At least one in three women has been a victim of physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence at some point in her life. UN Women works to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. We help strengthen efforts to prevent and respond to it, including by supporting the development of laws, and improving the availability and quality of services. In 2014, we supported 80 countries to end violence against women.

Education and awareness

In 2014, global rollout began of a unique curriculum designed by UN Women and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. "Voices against Violence" teaches young people how to prevent violence. By 2016, it is expected to reach 800,000 children and youth aged 5 to 25 in 12 countries. The first regional trainings took place for Asia, Europe and Africa, with workshops for the Americas and French-speaking African countries to follow. They equip national trainers and youth leaders to deliver the curriculum to Girl Guides and Scouts. Participants will learn about root causes, prevention and ways to access support, earning a "Voices against Violence" badge.

In Rwanda, UN Women's Safe City Programme and Kigali Municipality support a city-wide campaign to prevent sexual harassment on public transport by reaching out to thousands of passengers on buses and 'taxi-motos'. On a major commercial bus line, for instance, screens alert riders that sexual harassment is prohibited. They are urged to report problems to trained drivers and conductors or call a special hotline.

I want to see a world where girls and women are free from violence and are treated as equals to men and boys. One day, I will look back and say, 'I was part of this, and now the world is a better place for all of us'.

Edith Chukwu, a 29-year old Girl Guide from Ebonyi, Nigeria, trained on the non-formal curriculum "Voices against Violence"

Services

When Mary arrived at one of Rwanda's Isange One Stop Centres with a broken arm, she was too traumatized to speak. At 32 years old, with four children, she had just left her 17-year marriage to an emotionally and physically abusive husband.

Today, with the help of the centre's integrated medical, legal, psychosocial and protective services, she is slowly rebuilding her life. "The centre has provided me with hope - and a place to start recovering", Mary says. "Without it I would have nothing."

UN Women is part of a team of UN agencies that worked with Rwanda's National Police and several central ministries to introduce and expand the centres. Before they were established, women survivors of violence could only turn to hospitals, which treated their physical wounds, but were not equipped to provide other essential services. Today, there is at least one centre in each province, readily accessible to a large share of the population, and plans call for ensuring national coverage.

In Cameroon, UN Women helped establish the first call centre for survivors of gender-based violence, with a focus on those at risk of HIV. Callers receive counseling and immediate referrals to medical care. Media outlets have mobilized to spread information about the toll-free number, as well as messages to raise awareness of violence and HIV. Through a number of key government offices, a joint effort is underway to push for expanding judicial recourse and legal assistance for survivors.

Globally, UN Women and UNFPA lead a UN joint programme to boost the quality of essential services for women and girls surviving violence. By the end of 2014, it had developed standards for health care, police and judicial responses, and social services, to be complemented by a fourth area, the coordination and oversight of services. Ten countries will be chosen to test the standards.

Laws

Recent studies have shown horrific levels of violence against women in several Pacific countries. But in 2014, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and one state in the Federated States of Micronesia took a huge leap forward by adopting new laws to stop it. The sea change is the culmination of several years of concerted advocacy, as UN Women helped mobilize supportive international partners and national women's groups, sponsored public consultations, provided data mapping the scope of the problem, assisted with legal drafting and drew on political commitments made at the 57th Commission on the Status of Women.

UN Women helped Georgia align its legislation with the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention, such as by criminalizing forced marriage and expanding the authority of police to remove perpetrators in domestic violence cases. When Brazil passed its first law criminalizing femicide, it became the first country in Latin America to begin integrating the Latin American Model Protocol for the Investigation of Gender-related Violent Deaths in national legislation. The protocol was developed through a process of consultation with 200 experts in 18 countries coordinated by UN Women and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“Women in the police are now more accepted and even celebrated as leaders. I am proud to be one who led the way.”

Despite strife and societal pressure, Wafa Khaleel Ayyad Muammar joined the Palestinian Civil Police, among the first women to do so, and became its highest-ranking female officer. As head of the Family and Juvenile Protection Unit, she proves what women can achieve.

When Lieutenant Colonel Muammar began her career, during the turmoil of the Second Intifada, determination was her only weapon. She earned her Master's degree, while pregnant, walking through dangerous terrain to go to school until one week before the birth of her second child. Always knowing she wanted to be a police officer, she began her training right after.

Foremost among her goals has been to keep women and children safe from domestic violence-the mission of her job today. UN Women partners with the police and a new pool of specialized prosecutors in helping to bring justice to women survivors.